PSU Womens Swimming & Diving finishes fifth at Betty Spears Relays

Nov 05, 2005

WELLESLEY, Mass. - The Plymouth State
University women's swimming and diving team got the season underway
Saturday at the Betty Spears Relays at Wellesley College, a
team-oriented event that includes the usual relays as well as races
not normally contested.

Host Wellesley won the five-team event with 265 points. Smith
College was runner-up with 101, followed by Westfield State (88),
Babson (78) and Plymouth State (74). The Panthers will face
Wellesley again this Saturday in a dual meet in the home opener at
the PSU Natatorium (1:00 p.m.)

"It's a fun way to start the season," said PSU coach Al
Switzer. "It gives you a chance to have a lot of people
swim a lot of races. You get some good times and you see where
people stand."

There were 13 swimming events in the meet, including the
traditional 200 and 400-yard medley relays and the 200, 400 and
800-yard free relays. There were also unique races such as the
200-yard breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly relays, with each
swimmer racing 50 yards in that stroke; the 300-yard breaststroke,
backstroke and butterfly relays, with three swimmers on each team
instead of four, each covering 100 yards; and the 1500-yard free
relay, with three on each team swimming a 500-yard race.

PSU's top finish came in the 300-yard butterfly relay, as
freshmen Andrea Cabezas (Quito, Ecuador) and
Amanda Branch (Grey, Maine) and sophomore
Lindsay Osborne (Oak Ridge, N.C.) finished in
second place in a time of 3:21.56.

Junior Danielle DeStefano (Centerville, Mass.)
led the Panthers in the diving events, placing second on the
three-meter board with a score of 216.18 and fourth on the
one-meter with a 188.02.